Betting...

Vindman, a National Security Council official, testified to the House Intelligence Committee in November that he had discussed the controversial July 25, 2019 phone call between Trump and the Ukrainian president with an unknown intelligence community member as well as State Department official George Kent, who also testified to lawmakers.

Vindman listened to the call between Trump and Ukrainian president Voldymyr Zelensky, during which Trump asked Zelensky to investigate Joe Bidens. 

The Democrats made a lot of noise about Mr. Vindman's testimoney and so is the Liberal Media. Then when the impeachment reached the Senate, all the previous heroes disappeared and Dems wanted more witnesses to go at it for round two.

Betting on the wrong horse.   Just a thought.

Likely...

Fear of catching the coronavirus has some cabbies and ride-share drivers discriminating against customers due to fear of the unknown.

“I feel bad about it, but when I see Chinese passengers, I just go,” one cab driver —  told The Post. “I don’t pick up anyone Chinese. I’m scared. I don’t want to get the disease.”

“If I drop off somebody in Flushing [the Queens neighborhood with a Chinese population of some 70,000], I deactivate the app [and drive to another area],” an Uber driver told The Post. “I don’t know who has it . . . I worry for myself, my family and my passengers.”

Many Chinese and other habitual shoppers are avoiding the crowded areas of shopping and food markets in flushing and China town for fear of the unknown.

As of Friday evening, there were 15 confirmed cases of the virus in the US and none in New York State. The Centers for Disease Control warned this week that the spread of the disease in the US is “likely.”

No one said how many cases we would have if no precautions by any one are taking place.  Just a thought.

Wasting...

When Sen. Elizabeth Warren hopped on her press bus in Las Vegas Saturday, the national reporters who had covered her for months were nowhere to be seen. Instead, there were just five network embeds -- a sign of how much her political stature has suddenly fallen after a disappointing showing in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Warren made clear she believes billionaires should be paying a wealth tax, which would help fund proposals such as universal child care and free tuition at public universities.

With Bloomberg in the race, Warren has taken every opportunity she's had to slam him for "buying" the presidential election.

Warren just want the rich to be taxed for the wasteful spending we used to see in NY.

Just a thought.

Malarkey...

Pray...

Leader...

With the hope for Biden to become the Democratic Party Nominee diminished greatly, and the obvious rise of Bernie Sanders, the future is bleak.
Imagine if Bernie Sanders became the Democratic Nominee. That is all good.

But Bernie is not a Democrat. He never been a Democrat. He is a Socialist.

So where would the Democratic party goes from this point on when a Socialist is the Leader of the Democratic party?

Is the Democratic party handing off the next election to someone who is not a socialist?

Chance...

MoMoney...

Vacant storefront windows throughout New York City are an urban blight. And with traditional retail being such a tough market, they're becoming more common.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has a plan to solve this problem.

While in Albany, the mayor called for the passage of a "commercial vacancy tax." What this would do is force retail locations from keeping their properties empty or holding out for a high-paying, long-term tenant.

Landlords currently have a legal right to hold out for the rent levels they want.

"We have a number of empty storefronts. It's a growing problem in our neighborhoods. Let's pass a smart, targeted tax to stop landlords from leaving their properties empty, from blighting neighborhoods," de Blasio said. 

"Let's make clear to landlords that this is a problem for our communities, and with this tax, hopefully we would encourage landlords to turn their properties over more quickly and ensure that small businesses have an opportunity to rent them at a reasonable level."

De Blasio is on the hunt for more money. Just a thought.

Dissaray...

A U.S. judge dismissed a Democratic Party lawsuit arguing that the Russian government, President Donald Trump’s campaign and WikiLeaks carried out a conspiracy to influence the 2016 U.S. election.

U.S. District Judge John Koeltl in Manhattan said he could not hear the claims against Russia, which were the focus of the case, because of a legal doctrine called sovereign immunity that shields foreign governments from litigation in the United States.

"The remedies for hostile actions by foreign governments are state actions, including sanctions imposed by the executive and legislative branches of government," Koeltl's written opinion said.

Koeltl also said holding WikiLeaks and the Trump campaign liable for dissemination of hacked emails would infringe on the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The Democratic National Committee's computer systems were hacked during the campaign and WikiLeaks published them.

Fading...

It’s too early to know where this Democratic story is headed in the fight to unseat Donald Trump. But some things are already clear.

The first is that Joe Biden’s campaign is on life support.  After two crushing defeats, there’s no doubt about the prognosis: the former vice-president is fading fast.

Back in 2008 and 2016, Hillary Clinton ran two versions of the argument that voters wanted a mix of experience and change: of looking back and looking forward. That argument failed among Democrats the first time, and won the national popular vote the second time around by a large margin.

But it has resoundingly failed amid the wreckage of Donald Trump’s presidency, just as it did amid the carnage of George W Bush’s. Democratic voters want more change, not less change. 

Biden likes to say that we should compare him to the alternative, not the almighty. Sadly the voters have made the comparison and found him wanting against both.

New Hampshire buried not one but three campaigns besides Biden’s. Elizabeth Warren had built a brilliant campaign around her many policy proposals until she ran into the brick wall of trying to make sense of Bernie Sanders’ signature idea: Medicare for All.

Who knew it would be so hard to make the math work to avoid taxing everybody while also massively expanding government healthcare? It’s much easier to keep people excited about abolishing private insurance if you don’t talk about taxes.